There's no other way to say it; this team has come alive again. The difference in level of play the past few weeks, even in a few of their losses, has been a totally different level than what we saw earlier this season. I always expected the Wings to make the playoffs at 7th-8th, but I never actually thought we stood a chance against Chicago until tonight. Almost everyone who was struggling early on in this season is starting to get hot, and I for one think we actually can do damage in the playoffs.

Brunner and Nyquist are looking HUGELY DANGEROUS again, our bottom 6 is bringing enery, Franzen looks like 2008 Franzen, and heck even Abdelkader has been damn near effective the past several weeks. Even if you take away his hattrick, he has been an absolute wrecking ball. In the past 3 games alone I think he has had more memorable hits than he had for the first 20+ games of the season.

Defensively, I honestly feel as if our team is playing better than it ever did last season. Yes, we miss Lidstrom, most notably his point shot and outlet pass, but Kindl and Ericcsson have really taken strides into becoming top 4 defenders and Dekeyser is honestly playing better than Stuart was last year. Smith still makes mistakes, but the tools are clearly there, and even Quincy has been relatively solid after simplifying his game.

Last but not least is Howard. The dude has been absolute lights out. While I'm still wary of his contract length, there is no question in my mind that he is worth 5.3 for next year. I honestly feel like he is quietly entering into the top echelon of goaltenders, something I never thought would happen.

After the first few weeks of the season, I was already preparing myself for the embarrassment of vsing a team like Chicago in the first round. That wasn't the same team we are seeing now though, despite what the roster and jersey might tell you. This team has the capability to beat Chicago. Maybe they will, maybe they won't, but I for one am a lot more excited to watch how it all plays out than I thought I'd be 3 weeks ago.